President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday urged the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to prepare for the conduct of congress at all levels since INEC has released timetable for the 2019 elections. He called on the party to ensure internal democracy and avoid shortcuts which he said had characterised opposition party and had left it divided.
Buhari made the call in his remarks at the opening ceremony of the party’s national caucus meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said, "Now that INEC has come out with the timetable for elections in 2019, the party should prepare itself for congresses at wards, local governments, states and the centre.
"We should strictly follow the constitution of the party in undertaking these party elections. We should ensure internal democracy and avoid shortcuts and illegal manoeuvres which have characterised the opposition party with the consequences that they are now divided.
"The APC has a history of conducting free and fair primaries whenever consensus about any candidacy is not reached.“Regardless of the outcomes of the primary processes, it is imperative that we all work together to ensure the victory of our party.”
Buhari thanked party officials and members for the successes the APC achieved in the 2015 elections by winning majority of the governorship seats, majority in the National Assembly and is the state Houses of Assembly. He added, "This unity needed now more than ever, because elections are now looming, "I must state at the outset that to succeed we must in all our actions and decisions follow strictly the constitution of our party.”The President insisted that he inherited a country that was at the brink of collapse.